Valerie Huttle | |
---|---|
Member of the New Jersey General Assembly from the 37th district | |
In office January 10, 2006 –January 11, 2022 Servingwith Gordon M. Johnson | |
Preceded by | Loretta Weinberg |
Succeeded by | Shama Haider Ellen Park |
Member of the Bergen County Board of Chosen Freeholders | |
In office January 1,2001 –December 31,2006 | |
Preceded by | Richard Mola William Van Dyke |
Succeeded by | Julie O'Brien Connie Wagner |
Personal details | |
Born | Valerie Vainieri September 15,1956[1] Englewood,New Jersey,U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Frank Huttle |
Children | 2 |
Education | Fairleigh Dickinson University (BA) Rider University |
Valerie Vainieri Huttle (born September 15,1956 [1] ) is an American Democratic Party politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly where she represented the 37th Legislative District,from 2006 to 2022. Huttle served on the Bergen County Board of Chosen Freeholders from 2001 through 2006.
In the Assembly,Huttle served on the Homeland Security and State Preparedness (Chair),Labor (Vice-Chair),and Tourism,Gaming and the Arts Committees. [1]
Huttle was born in 1956 to Anthony P. and Natalie Vainieri. Her family founded the Vainieri Funeral Home in North Bergen; [2] in addition,her father served on the North Bergen Board of Commissioners and one term in the General Assembly from the 32nd District from 1983 to 1985. Her brother Anthony P. Vainieri,Jr. is currently serving on the Hudson County Board of County Commissioners and is the current Chairperson. [3] [4] She is a state-licensed funeral director and has served as president of the funeral home since 1981. [5]
Huttle graduated cum laude from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1980 with a B.A. in English,and received state certification for teaching. She also attended Rider University,but did not receive a degree. [1] Huttle is a former member of the Board of Palisades General Hospital and founder of the Southern Bergen County Homeowners Association. She is also a co-founder of "WIN",Women Involved Now,an educational and social network for women in the community. Huttle sits on the Board of Trustees as Vice-President of Shelter Our Sisters,an organization that brings awareness to the plight of victims of domestic violence while providing hope and revitalization to their lives through counseling and direct care. She has served as a former Trustee of Vantage Health. [5]
While a resident of Cliffside Park,Huttle mounted a bid for the New Jersey Senate in 1997 in the 38th District against Republican incumbent Louis F. Kosco. Despite raising more funds in the campaign than Kosco,she was defeated by him the general election 55% to 42%. [6] [7] Three years later in 2000,by now a resident of Englewood,she and running mate Jack Alter (who was also the mayor of Fort Lee) defeated Republican incumbent Bergen County Freeholders Richard Mola and J. William Van Dyke. [8] Two years later on January 2,2003,she was unanimously chosen by her peers to serve the Board as the first ever Chairwoman under its present County Executive form of government. Her colleagues returned her to the Chairperson's seat once again in 2004. [1] [5]
As Freeholder,Huttle sat on the Community Oversight Board at Bergen Regional Medical Center during her first two years of service,providing oversight of the privately managed county hospital. She has also served on the county Board of Social Services and is a member of the Community Action Partnership Board of Trustees for the last four years where she worked for development of a one-stop homeless shelter to better address the needs of that growing population. She was a member of the Board of School Estimate at the Bergen County Technical Schools,a former member of the Board of School Estimate at Bergen Community College and chaired the Freeholder committee for Health and Human Services. [5] After serving one year as both an Assemblywoman and Freeholder,she declined to seek re-election in 2006 to the Freeholder board. [9]
Huttle is a resident of Englewood,where she lives with her husband Frank Huttle III and their two daughters,Alexandra and Francesca. Frank Huttle has served as Mayor of Englewood since January 2010,succeeding Michael Wildes. [10] Huttle and her husband were inducted into the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in ceremonies held in September 2000 at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City,having been recommended for the honor by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. Archbishop Edward Egan designated Mrs. Huttle a Dame and Mr. Huttle a Knight of the order. [5]
After the resignation of District 37 State Senator Byron Baer on September 8,2005,Huttle had put her name in the ring to fill the Senate vacancy. Ultimately,she withdrew and endorsed Assemblywoman Loretta Weinberg of Teaneck to fill the seat. On October 5,after an extended legal battle related to inclusion of five disputed ballots,Weinberg was ultimately victorious over Hackensack Police Chief Ken Zisa in her bid to replace Baer,both on an interim basis and on the November General Election ballot. [11]
With Weinberg's court victory,Huttle and Engelwood Mayor Michael Wildes both announced their candidacies for Weinberg's Assembly slot on the November general election ballot and to fill the balance of her term in the Assembly once she took her seat in the Senate. The choice was decided by yet another special convention of the Bergen County Democratic Committee on October 6,2005,with Huttle out-polling Wildes 121-96 (Huttle would ultimately not serve the remainder of Weinberg's term). [12] Running together with Weinberg and incumbent Assemblyman Gordon M. Johnson,Huttle was elected on Election Day,November 8,2005,to the Assembly and sworn in as a new member on January 10,2006,the first day of the 212th Legislative Session.
As of 2015 [update] ,Huttle chairs the Assembly Human Services Committee and sits on the Tourism,Gaming and the Arts Committee and the New Jersey Legislative Select Committee on Investigation investigating the Fort Lee lane closure scandal. Since 2015,she has served as a Deputy Speaker. [1]
Following a legislative study mission to Israel in 2016,Huttle along with other Assembly Democrats sponsored an anti-BDS bill barring the state's pension funds from investing in companies that boycott Israel or Israeli businesses. [13]
In 2021,Huttle announced she would seek the District 37 Senate seat due to Loretta Weinberg's announcement that she would be retiring at the end of her term,going against fellow Assemblyman Gordon Johnson in the 2021 Democratic Primary [14] Huttle was endorsed by the New Jersey Working Families Party, [15] EMILY's List, [16] however she lacked her local Democratic party's support as they elected to back Johnson to bracket with the Democratic Party on the primary ballot. Due to this,Huttle made changing ballot design and party endorsements part of her campaign,aligning with local progressive groups pushing for this. [17] Huttle lost the primary,being defeated by Johnson 3-1. [18]
Each of the forty districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly. The other representatives from the 37th District for the 2018-19 Legislative Session are: [19]
Byron M. Baer was an American Democratic Party politician from New Jersey who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature. He served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1972 to 1993 and in the State Senate from 1994 to 2005,where he represented the 37th Legislative District. In the early 1970s,Baer was the primary author of the Open Public Records Act,New Jersey's Sunshine Law,and was an advocate of open government throughout his legislative career.
Loretta Weinberg is an American Democratic Party politician,who served as a member of the New Jersey Senate from 2005-2022,where she represented the 37th Legislative District. She also served as Senate Majority Leader. Weinberg served in the General Assembly before being selected to replace retiring Senator Byron Baer.
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Joseph A. Ferriero is an American Democratic Party political leader from New Jersey and former chairman of the Bergen County Democratic Organization. Ferriero,an attorney by profession,resides in Hackensack.
Charles "Ken" Zisa is an American Democratic Party politician,who served as a member of the New Jersey General Assembly from 1994 to 2002,where he represented the 37th Legislative District.
The following offices were up for election in the United States State of New Jersey in the general election on November 3,2009:
Celeste M. Riley is an American Democratic Party politician,who currently serves as the Clerk of Cumberland County,New Jersey. She previously served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2009 to 2015,where she represented the 3rd legislative district. Riley is the first woman to represent this district in the New Jersey Legislature.
New Jersey's 37th Legislative District is one of 40 in the state,covering the Bergen County municipalities of Alpine,Bogota,Cresskill,Englewood,Englewood Cliffs,Fort Lee,Hackensack,Leonia,Northvale,Palisades Park,Rockleigh,Teaneck and Tenafly. As of the 2020 United States census,the district had a population of 231,985.
Annette Chaparro is an American Democratic Party politician who has represented the 33rd Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly since she was sworn into office on January 12,2016. Chapparo has served in the Assembly as Deputy Speaker Pro Tempore since 2022.
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Linda Carter is an American Democratic Party politician. A resident of Plainfield,she has represented the 22nd Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly since taking office in 2018 to fill the seat that had been vacant since the death of Jerry Green.
Anthony P. Vainieri is an American Democratic Party politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from the 32nd Legislative District from 1984 to 1986.
The 2021 New Jersey State Senate election was held on November 2,2021. New Jersey voters elected state senators in all of the state's legislative districts for a two-year term to the New Jersey Senate. This was the first election since 1991 where Republicans net gained state Senate seats.
The 2021 New Jersey General Assembly election was held on November 2,2021. New Jersey voters elected two Assembly members in all of the state's legislative districts for a two-year term to the New Jersey General Assembly.
The 2017 New Jersey General Assembly elections were held on November 7,2017,to elect members to all 80 seats of the New Jersey General Assembly. Prior to the elections,Democrats held a 52–28 majority in the lower house. Overall,the Democrats increased their majority by 2 to a super-majority at 54–26,due to holding all their seats as well as picking up open seats in District 2 and District 16. This tied Democrats for their largest majority since 1979.
Democratic Freeholder Valerie Huttle is not seeking a new term.
"In Englewood, attorney Frank Huttle will be sworn in as the new mayor and Lynne Algrant becomes the latest addition to the council Tuesday night at the city's annual reorganization meeting. Huttle, who defeated longtime Councilman Scott Reddin by a narrow margin in the June primary, replaces Michael Wildes, who announced last year that he would not seek a third term.... Huttle, head of the Englewood-based BergenPAC, husband of Assemblywoman Valerie Huttle, and a partner in the Teaneck law firm DeCotiis, FitzPatrick, Cole & Wisler LLP, will appoint a new council president, and various city appointments will be made.